Eating Habits: Veganism And Vegetarianism For Athletes

Veganism and vegetarianism are growing worldwide. Increasingly, people have become aware of the negative impact consumption of meat can cause on the planet and are engaging in the struggle for animal liberation. However, there is still lack of representativeness and visibility in both subjects. Furthermore, it’s hard to escape from the influence of fake news. Because of that, many people think that you can’t change your eating habits, without your health being put at risk. This way, usually a rash association is made that athletes cannot be vegan or vegetarian and still be healthy. 

While vegetarianism is a transitory movement that already brings an exponential improvement, veganism would be the closest stage of these achievements. Although both movements are more discussed when compared years ago, according to the Centro de Estudos Avançados em Economia Aplicada (Cepea), beef consumption in Brazil has increased by 14% in the last ten year. In addition, it was recorded that this per capita consumption in the country reaches approximately 42 kgs per year, showing how the population is used to a day-to-day life consumption based on animal and environmental exploitation.

For Glória Stangler Weiss, 18-year-old student and vegan boxing athlete, veganism appeared mainly in her life from documentaries, such as Netflix’s “Cowspiracy.” In 2016, at the age of 14, the teenager started to rethink her consumption habits and the way all this caused damage to the environment. The concern to the impact on the planet,  the scarcity of natural resources and animal cruelty are the main reasons to be vegan. “The world needs a change in our positioning. There is nothing more gratifying than knowing that you are consciously making a choice to achieve what you believe. It doesn’t have to be something painful. You will discover many things and will improve even your relationship with food”, says.

“I practice boxing very intensely and I feel absolutely no problem about it. People think it’s impossible to be vegan and be an athlete at the same time. And it’s not true. I’m also very healthy, even more than I was before being vegan. I do regular exams and the results are great. The only vitamin I take is the B12. However, I confess that I spent a lot of time without taking it and I never felt anything bad. It was just something my nutritionist recommended, because maybe I would have long-term problems”, explains Glória. 

About the qualification of professionals, the athlete says that she didn’t have such positive experiences with those who were not vegetarians or vegans. In her opinion, nutritionists who are not vegans have tremendous difficulty to attend vegan people. They recommended foods that were not tasty at all and restricted more to a diet that is already restrictive.

In the transition process, Glória states that she has always been very determined, and, for her, it was not very difficult to adapt to veganism. Although her family is from Rio Grande do Sul and they are used to consuming a lot of meat, she embraced the cause and changed completely. “What motivates me to continue in veganism is to feel that I’m actively doing something. It’s a political movement, not just food. For me, it’s a symbol of how we can relate to the planet in a more conscious and less destructive way. The Earth is not here to serve us and for us to explore unbridled”, says.

Despite being vegan for four years, in the beginning, Glória heard many discouraging words. People around her thought it was just a phase and that there was no need to restrict herself that way, that she was very radical and being vegan didn’t change anything at all. But none of this made her give up. 

Meanwhile, for the student of the last year of Nutrition at FURB in Blumenau, Maria Eduarda Meyer, 22-year-old, the movement emerged in the same way: through documentaries. The student says it was a reality shock to watch “Earthlings” and realize all the things that the humans are responsible for. In the case of Maria Eduarda studying Nutrition was not a great influencer in her eating habits.

“Only one teacher instigated me to think about the chain of consumption and where food came from, even though she was not a vegetarian. But a friend from college turned vegetarian a year before, so we had a very interesting exchange of experiences. Moreover, I see living beings in the same way and I believe that they should be respected with the same merit and dignified life. We can’t sustain the current consumption model without a change. I feel like I’m doing my part as much as possible as a vegetarian. But, of course, it is necessary a political restructuring for change to happen on a large scale”, says Maria Eduarda.

About the sports, Maria Eduarda states that it is super possible to be vegan and have a great sporting performance. The feeding for athletes will require the same care of the others, only with different focuses of attention. “All types of food need to be balanced, regardless of meat consumption or not. Many people believe that eating meat already compensates all the needs, and we know that it is not true”, explains.

Maria Eduarda, as a future professional in the field, reinforces this issue, “it’s necessary to be updated and prepared for this growing demand. Our duty as nutritionists is to respect patient’s food choices, so we need to know what is the ideal conduct in these cases. The oriented diet should be sustainable not only to the patient, but also to the planet. So even if there is meat consumption, it is important to guide for a reduction. I did my undergraduate thesis about vegetarians and vegans and it was observed that many times the professional doesn’t know how to conduct the care, insisting on the consumption of meat and derivatives”, alerts.

According to both of them, it is very common to hear doubts about the nutritional deficiencies, what can replace meat, if it is accessible, if they don’t stave or are unhealthy. That’s why Maria Eduarda thinks it’s so important that the fight against fake news extends to the media. She recalls that expressive change can only occur through systemic change, but “the reality could begin to improve if the way that the “food” is prepared were widely disseminated, without euphemisms. Giving greater visibility to people who have been vegetarian or vegan for years without any problem than those who tried, without proper dietary planning, and abandoned the lifestyle for health condition, but the food wasn’t the real problem”, defends. 

Food is strictly connected to people’s culture and customs, so taking into consideration that the Brazilian population is one of the largest meat consumers in the world, sometimes the transformation may seem very distant. And, although the fake news is very discouraging, it’s very important to disseminate verified information about vegetarianism and veganism. Eating is a political act and understanding that makes you take responsibility for what you put on your plate.

Sometimes, lack of information can be the reason why many people don’t embrace the cause. But there are also those who completely understand the reality, but don’t want to leave their comfort zone. People don’t see that there is a universe of possibilities that can be explored through these movements. But there is. And it’s full of new flavors for you to try!

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The article above was edited by Camila Nascimento. 

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